Lucky33

   I've been to all of the MotoGP races in Thailand and I'm hoping that I can go again this year after having last year cancelled. I'm hoping that they will still be able to have them with fans attending this year. Even if fans can't go to the circuit I'll still go and stay in Buriram and watch it on TV, I always enjoy the trip and seeing all of the different bikes and riders there. 

With the new Pattaya-Utapao motorway opening up for traffic but not being officially open I thought that this would be the perfect place to get a motorcycle up to speed. One of my favorite motorcycle day trips is to go from Pattaya to Ban Chang taking the back roads and I thought this would be a good time to try something different and get the bike up to speed without worrying about someone pulling out right in front of me. At the still closed entrance to the motorway between Pattaya and Sattahip there is a space to get a large motorcycle through and I got on there and rode the motorway to the end near Utapao. There weren’t any problems and no traffic to speak of so you could get up to speed without any worries about traffic interfering but when I got to the end I thought everything would be open since they weren’t taking tolls but the police were there. They didn’t give me a ticket but they did instruct me that even though the motorway wasn’t officially open motorcycles were still prohibited from using it but still it was fun using it that one time.  

This is an interesting topic with a lot of replies. I like a fast bike also although I usually don’t cruise at more than 130 or 140 kph.  I look at it just like someone who owns a Ferrari, just because they own a fast car doesn’t mean that they want to drive it at 300 kph.

   I just rode by Pattaya Ducati today and noticed that they had closed up shop, everything was gone and there was no notice on the door saying that they had moved so I guess that they are gone. I owned a couple of Ducatis back in the day and while I loved the bikes, Ducati Pattaya service wasn't the best by a long shot. I wonder if they are planning on relocating?

I have a Vespa Primavera 150 and I love it, it's great for riding around town.

I have a set of Hepco and Backer pannier frames for a CB500 if you are interested.

Great race and it's great to see Ducati back up toward the front again, it should be an interesting season.

The panniers are Hepco and Becker, I don't remember the price but they were fairly expensive but they are very easy to take on and off the bike, I really like them. I'm enjoying the 500F, great for short trips and small enough to ride around town easily. Here is a photo of the bike getting gassed up with the panniers and windscreen on.

I have a CB500F and I have bought a set of panniers and a small windscreen for it. They were both in stock at Honda Big Wing Pattaya. I bought the hard fiberglass panniers and have been particularly pleased with them. They are very serviceable, look good, and very east on and off.

Ducati makes excellent bikes and have a good service organization put together to back them up here in Thailand. When Ducati first started assembling Monsters here in Thailand they were one of the first big bike manufacturers to do so and avoid the high import tax, now that they have much more competition I doubt that they will be able to sustain that 22% growth rate although I think that they will continue to do well in the Thailand market.

I don't know what a carnet is either but I just made the trip and all I needed was a green book in my name. I described the procedure for crossing through immigration and customs into Cambodia in my trip thread, you might want to take a look.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/805534-road-trip-pattaya-to-sihanoukville/

I was once in Phnom Penh and it was a wild place and since I was not married then I had a real good time

Ahem now back to topic, so OP did your bike class A cover in Cam. or did you have an additional insurance for that?

Well don't really know why I am asking, no way will my wife allow me me to go over there by my own

I really don't know about the insurance, the only insurance that I have on the bike is the inexpensive insurance that you are required to have to get your registration. The hotel where I stayed had 24 hr security for the parking lot so I wasn't afraid of having it stolen. I didn't buy any additional insurance and I'm pretty sure my Thailand insurance wouldn't be any good in Cambodia.

Tell us a bit about Sihanoukville, particularly the night life. Are there bars? What do drinks costs? Good massage to relax after a long day's riding? Do you get to go to bed "happy"?

Thanks for the comments guys, I enjoyed making the trip. As for the night life, there are many bars in Sihanoukville and the beer is cheap enough, fifty cents to one dollar US for a bottle of beer in most of them. US dollars are used as currency all over Cambodia. As for a good massage, I think that it is best to stick to Pattaya for that. Most of the people in the bars in Sihanoukville were either backpackers or expats.

The bars are similar to Pattaya beer bars, I didn't seen anything resembling a go go bar. There are two main bar areas, one on Victory Hill and another one near the Lion roundabout. Like I said, I think that it's better to stay in Pattaya for the nightlife .

As a Ducati owner I regularly receive emails from Ducati inquiring about how satisfied I am with the bike, service, etc. and I'm sure that other Ducati owners do also. I would be sure and report the overcharging for service, the price seems a little ridiculous to me. IMO if you report it they will probably do something to rectify the situation.

I had my 795 serviced after 6,000 KM also at Pattaya Ducati but the cost was only about 3,000 baht, of course that was a couple of years ago. I traded it in on a Diavel that I am also very happy with.

Riding a Honda 500 is fun but riding a Ducati is a thrill.

The styling, acceleration, heat, vibration, the sound of the desmo valve system and clattering clutch. Nice.

Add a rude muffler and and doesn't get much better.

I can't add much to that!

I think that you made a wise decision, I've owned a Monster and a Diavel and the Monster is a great bike, the Diavel is definitely more comfortable to ride and has much greater performance. I say go ahead and get one now, when the 2015s come out you will probably be out of the mood to buy one . The fuel gauge would be nice but the LED headlight wouldn't make any difference to me since I only ride in the daytime. The Diavel does have a low fuel warning light and two re-settable mileage counters so it's fairly easy to keep up with when you need to refuel, my light usually comes on at 180-190 KM.

I've bought a couple of Ducatis from the Pattaya Ducati dealer and never had a problem. Usually the white plates and book arrive about four to six weeks after the purchase. As for comparing the Hyperstrada to a Honda, the Honda isn't even in the same league as the Ducati IMO. The sound, style, handling, etc. of the Ducati is way ahead of the Honda. For overall riding including a lot of trips and city riding the Hyperstrada would be my bike of choice.

I can't tell you when they will have the 2015 Diavels in inventory but I have a 2013 Cromo and they are worth waiting for .

Thanks for the reports guys, I definitely want to go and watch next time.

I love Ducatis and I"m a Ducati owner but I would definitely go for the Vespa, Ducatis no matter the model aren't made for stop and go rush hour city traffic.

Great report and ride Lancelot!

Diavel is 1200cc and 162 HP all geared for torque. That is one serious bike. Pretty heavy at 240kg wet of course. Almost as heavy as the Z800... 555

In Hypermotard news, got my windscreen installed, wonderful. The bike has transformed from a hooligan motard to a mini-multistrada. A mini hooligan tourer.

Recently pulled my first accidental wheelie. 2nd gear. I haven't gotten time to practice wheelies so this one just happened... inside the city too, whoops.

One surprise is that I am using the riding modes way more than I thought I would. I change mode about 3 or 4 times every day. Sports aka crazy mode when there's longer stretches of good road ahead, touring in the city or when lazy, urban in traffic jams.

I've owned a Diavel for a year now and IMO it isn't much of a touring bike. I think that they are made to look great and be fast which they are. The small radiators (size sacrificed for styling) mean that they get very hot here in Thailand with our very long waits at stoplights and rush-hour city traffic.

I think that you made a wise decision with the Hypermotard, plenty of power and not to large that you can't crawl around through city traffic, I'm sure that you will get a lot of enjoyment out of it.